A prestige series with major Hollywood players is set to film in the Keys in 2022.
Per the Hollywood Reporter, the production has been ordered by Apple and is based on the 2013 Carl Hiaasen novel “Bad Monkey.” The series will be 10 episodes to start and executive produced and starring Vince Vaughn of “Wedding Crashers” fame. The showrunner? Bill Lawrence, who just swept the Emmys with the series “Ted Lasso” and created the sitcom “Scrubs.”
“A show like this would be really great for the Keys,” said Florida Keys film commissioner Chad Newman, who confirmed that the production company has been in touch with him. “Production is starting to ramp up and look for locations. It will be produced by Warner Bros. TV and start mid next year.”
“Bad Monkey” will be adapted for the screen by Lawrence. The tale focuses on Vaughn’s character, Andrew Yancy, a former Miami cop who has been demoted to a health inspector. Hoping to give his law enforcement career a boost, Yancy is trying to get to the bottom of how and why a severed human arm ended up being pulled from the sea by a sport fisherman in the Florida Keys. In typical Hiaasen fashion, corrupt hijinks and eccentric characters emerge.
Apple has been providing competition for streaming juggernauts Netflix and Amazon Prime by producing scripted original programming, with titles including “For All Mankind,” “Dickinson,” “Foundation,” “Home Before Dark” and “Invasion,” among others.
Many locals remember when the three seasons of the Netflix series “Bloodline” was filmed in the Keys. The first season premiered in 2015. That series’ location manager, Maria Chavez, said that production’s logistics may be similar to those of the Apple series. Since “Bad Monkey” so far has 10 episodes scheduled, locals may expect to see cast and crew around for about four to five months, the amount of time it took her production team to shoot 10 episodes. The “Bloodline” cast consisted of about eight primary actors plus extras, and the crew numbered about 125 to 150.
“Locals can expect a revenue stream coming into the hotels, restaurants, plus there’s shopping and locations fees,” she explained. “The community gets the benefit of economic impact. Then after the series comes out, there’s tourism.”
Newman pointed out that the first season of “Bloodline” had a budget of $30 million, and it generated $60 million in tourism impact.
“And to this day, ‘Bloodline’ fans are still coming to visit,” he said.
Chavez also said that the “Bloodline” actors became a part of the community, with lead actor Kyle Chandler’s band playing in local venues and other actors and crew hanging out at Café Moka.
So residents should keep an eye out in 2022 — maybe Vince Vaughn will be ordering a brew next to you at your favorite watering hole.
